In the eye of death
by Greyhem
Summary: A terreble creature named Al'drakene is trying to take over the earth. The only thing is, The world rebels. The book is how a few farmers, a king a sorcerer and a sorceress take him down.
1. Default Chapter

_**Chapter 1**_

_**The recognition of Al'drakene**_

Greyhem was going to his best friend's house, Gorlthon and Glarsnal as he rounded his friends house, Gloren, another of his friends, came yelling after him saying "the peddler has come to town in time for Beltaine!" He and his friend went into Gorlthon's house and they found a beautiful woman (Gorlthon's wife) and another beautiful woman that neither of them had ever seen before although she looked familiar. There was a dinner set out for them and Gorlthon and Glarthen walked into the room announcing the name of the woman as Helen. Greyhem thought he had never seen a more beautiful woman in all his life when he saw Helen. After dinner Greyhem, Gloren, Glarthen, and Gorlthon all went down to the bar for a drink. All of the sudden the door of the bar slammed open and in came something a little shorter than an ogre! "My name is Gorugu and I have come to take Greyhem, Gloren, Glarthen, Glarsnal and Gorlthon by order of Narfemsar."

"What do you want with us?" Gorlthon asked.

"Narfemsar wants you. That's all I know."

"I guess we have no choice. Come on" Greyhem said. And so the journey began, going from the land of Greyhorime, Greynor to The Tower of Narfemsar. First they would have to pass the paths of the grey. But the moment they left Greyhorime they hit trouble; they found that they ran low on food, water, and supplies. As they traveled on they grew more and more weary. As the first week rounded off, they came to a small town with an inn called the Green Gerry Inn, which is where they stayed for the night.

In the morning the six traveled from dawn till dusk, stopping only a few times. At dusk they made camp some- where in the wilderness. That night they made a camp site in a clearing about ten feet wide with dead or dieing trees surrounding them. Gorugu took the first watch, although none of them were expecting to be attacked, it was still a good idea because of bandits and other criminals. Of course, nobody in there right mind would go and rob an ogre. The first change happened around four hours after first watch, after that Gorugu lost track of time.

The next day the six travelers started to get into some small mountains. It was easy for the ogre, but hard work for the rest of them, and Gorlthon started showing signs of increased strength after mumbling something. As the five got closer and closer to the mountain pass, they started to find more travelers that traded with them.

When they finally got to the mountain pass, Gloren said something to Gorlthon and suddenly changed into a dwarf! "What the heck was that!!?" Greyhem exclaimed

"That," Gorlthon explained "was some sorcery casted by yours truly."

"You're a sorcerer?" Greyhem inquired

"Yes, I am" Gorlthon replied. Every body got together enough gold to make the passage through the pass for all of them. The first two days into the underground pass was a joy! Filled with merchants, humans, elves, and of course dwarves they even found some passive ogres for Gorugu to talk to. They found an inn to stay at for the next two nights to recuperate and get their supplies replenished. They also bought five horses with some pack mules, with the help of Gorlthon's powers.

The third day was not too pleasant. When they left the inn they found that they needed better pockets for the pack mules, but when they realized this they were many miles from the nearest underground town they kept going.

As they neared the tenth day in the underground pass, they found the exit! "At last, we're here!" Greyhem said. They found another little inn and ate a good meal. "Well this hasn't been very enjoyable until now." Glarthen said.

"No not to enjoyable...except at night when we made camp. Best time of each day." Glarsnal agreed. Just then the waitress appeared "ah yes could I have another drink?" he then continued, "if Gorlthon could teleport we would be there in no time, but I like to travel," he added as he saw an angry look from Gorlthon. "Do any of you know that woman over there? She keeps starring at us," Glarsnal said to change the subject.

"Yes, I do know her," Gorugu said, "She is Ulara of the Gronsot. She, too, has been summoned by Narfemsar."

"Then call her over for god sake," Gloren said.

"Ulara! Come here!" Gorugu called. She nodded and walked over. "This is Glarsnal, Gloren, Gorlthon and"-

"Greyhem, I know who he is," Ulara said.

"Oh you do, do you?" Greyhem replied.

"Yes...king" She replied.

"HOW DID YOU NOW THAT!?" Greyhem exclaimed.

"I know many things you think are safe from other people," Ulara said slyly.

"King?" the rest said at the same time.

"Yes, I am the king," Greyhem said, "But not the one you are probably thinking of...I am king of the Malkerie."

"There is a little thing I never mentioned because of fear," Glarthen began, "I am part of the Malkerie."

As Greyhem's eyes widened he said "you neglected to mention that, my friend."

Boom! The wall suddenly crashed down with much smoke emitting from the new hole in the wall. As the smoke cleared they herd a loud roar of a mountain troll! "Let's get this troll out of the way! No magic." Greyhem said as they charged forward. Gorlthon took out his bow and so did Glarsnal, Gloren took out his ax, Greyhem and Gorugu took out swords. But as they charged forward, the troll fell and died. In its place stood one elf warrior, they looked at the troll and saw an arrow embedded in its head system. The elf said to them "my name is Narfel" He said "and yours?"

"My name is irrelevant to any one whom dose not have authorization," Greyhem replied quite cruelly to the elf, "Though I suppose it would be common courtesy to

give my name after you so willingly gave yours. My name is Greyhem."

"Surly not the Greyhem that is king of the Malkerie," Narfel said.

"The very same, I am curious as to how you know me, since I told no one I was leaving," Greyhem said formally as a king should.

"All the elves in my family know who you are, although I would not spend time with bozos like these if I were king."

"What's wrong with us?" Glarsnal said very defensively.

"Nothing I just think a king would spend time with people who do not kill things for fun."

"EXUSEME but the things we kill are evil!" Gorlthon replied very angrily."

"Calm down and"- but he was cut short as a loud screeching sound became noticeable. "Oh no... the goblins have passed the inner wall! Prepare for battle master Gorlthon for I look forward to seeing you in battle." They soon found themselves surrounded by goblins. Greyhem, though knowing it was hopeless, charged forward and started cutting through the goblins, as the creatures shot arrows at them they charged forward killing as they went. Narfel shot arrows at a tremendous speed faster than anything ever to shoot an arrow.

"_Al'garthen shemal tengoul!!" _Glarthen screamed as he charged towards the goblins and attacked them. The others charged forward and attacked the goblins saying the exact same thing, except for Goruguof which yelled "_Im'goule shemal tengal boruthengal!!_"

Ulara ran up stairs to her room were her bow, arrows and spear resided. The gronsot never used swords or axes, except when there was no choice. When she turned around there were ten goblins bearing down on her. She calmly looked at the goblins with their scythe like swords and went into an attack that looked a little like a dance with a deadly spear as the dance moves. When she stood up straight she marveled at how quickly she killed the goblins and then ran down stairs. When she got down stairs, she found the seven bound to Narfemsar's tower fighting for their lives. She decided quickly to help them and charged forward. Narfel, Greyhem, Ulara, Gorugu, Glarthen, Glarsnal, and Gloren fought the many goblins until there were no goblins left. Ulara threw her spear into the last retreating goblin and severed it's head. Greyhem and the others looked at Ulara and she said "what, you have never seen a woman fight before?" Greyhem shook his head "no" and kept staring while all of the others looked away. _I wonder what he is thinking._ She though to herself. _Fool! Do not be thinking on fantasies, just keep your mind on your oath to your country, I will not abandon them for some farmer boy _

_even if he is the king of a dead nation that imprisoned The Evil One. _She shrugged her thoughts about him out of her head. She ran upstairs to gather her saddle bags and belongings and when to the stable. She found that every body was already there, arguing over the prices for the horses to have been stabled there. "I don't care what kind of trouble we caused we want our horses saddled now or there will be more trouble!" Greyhem was telling the stable boy.

"Allow me." She said to Greyhem she turned to the boy and said in a strangely commanding voice "Get the horses saddled now boy, if you want to be paid one golden coin, a very high price for something so trifle as that, don't you think?" He did as she told him quickly after that. "You have to know how to talk to the business man," she explained.

"Well, 'The business man' is about to get his butt whooped if he doesn't do what I say!" replied a very angry Narfel. After that they were soon on their way to Narfemsar's tower, again. Although they were many days from Narfemsar's tower, they still rode at as quick as a pace as their horses could maintain. They rode from dawn till dusk, again. This time Ulara took the first watch. Just as she was about to wake Gorugu though, a group of about fifty bandits arrived on the field that the seven friends were sleeping at. _Well great,_ she thought_ just when I thought I could sleep! _She grabbed her spear and called "wake up you fools! We are under attack!" the seven sleeping members awoke with a start as the bandits charged forward. A very bloody fight broke out and there were bandits heads flying every were. In the midst of the battle, Ulara was caught by the bandits, taking a nice looking girl prisoner was, what they thought, a good idea. She was overpowered immediately, they took her bow, and spear rendering her defenseless. She escaped by Greyhem killing the bandits in seconds making her feel strange, though she discarded the feeling as a thanking feeling. _I must be going crazy _she thought _I couldn't be actually _liking_ him... can I?_

Greyhem looked at Ulara, remembering that he was not the king he should be, but a humble farmer and that she was a _Gronsot! _He helped Ulara up to her feet, she thanked him and walked over to her horse. _I wish I was Gorlthon_ he thought_ he always has a way with women. _He walked over to his horse and they rode forward immediately. They did not stop until night fall the next day, a full twenty-four hours they pushed themselves and their horses. When they finally got to a suitable camp ground they dismounted and made camp, careful to make a small campfire just big enough for a good meal and then put it out so they didn't attract attention. This time when Ulara took watch, she was awake with Greyhem. They talked for a while, first about war and battles, then about friends, and then something suddenly popped about their life history. Apparently Ulara had become a warrior when she was about thirteen years old. Greyhem told her about how he would have liked to be king and what he remembered about his parents. _I like this girl_ he found himself thinking_ Idiot! She is a Gronsot _

Queen!_ You aren't even a prince! Although she does seem to like me and I think she is impressed with how I dealt with the bandits. _

"You know I think that I _like _you. That's crazy though, cause you are no offence a farmer." She was saying to him.

"hahaha. I think I like_ you_ to." And he quickly added after seeing the look on her face, which was more towards surprise than any thing else "I just think that you are cute, that is all" Just then they were interrupted by a loud grunt from a sleeping Gorugu. "He's waking up," Greyhem said, "I think I need to sleep some." But with sleep came the terrors of the night, dreams that would make the toughest ogre scream, dreams of death, Killing and The Evil One released into the world and the few men, gronsot, ogres, rebel goblins, rebel giant spiders with a lord of spiders called fadane, last of the Malkerie, elves with an elf lord named owyn, and rebel Darkelves fighting to kill The Evil One, but none prevailing but the people he was with now and one tree others that he did not know, but knew the names as Borathor, Owyn and Fadane. The eight ripping Al'drakene's fortress apart, killing anything in their path mercilessly. Then they got to the top of The Evil One's fortress and a huge black beam of evil energy came and nearly killed them had it not been for Gorlthon's staff that he used to blast the beam back to it's creator... and then he woke up screaming in terror of the sight of The Evil One, Pail white skin with a shadow that seamed to swallow up all light ever emitting from the room... Greyhem awoke very suddenly as every one else did at the same time. Gorlthon woke and muttered something and they all fell asleep again. If he had any further dreams, he had no recollection of them. He woke in the morning with a quiet grunt of surprise as Ulara, the only one that was awake, was sitting at the fire. He got up and went over, then sat down next to her. She was looking around as if to run and kill something. He said hi and she said hello in a very tens voice and stated that she wanted to be alone to think, then she walked of into the forest.

As Ulara was walking she thought to herself_ what has gotten into me? My people would think I was crazy if they saw me, especially father. If I were ever to return, I need to go back to my detached emotional state of mind with no feelings what so ever! I don't know what has gotten into me but I will never rule the country if I act this way. Or will I? I could be the prophesized one, the female Gronsot that goes against the policy of no emotion. I am a queen, he is the king of the rite country... I _am_ going crazy if I think I am that person. _She then herd a noise behind her. She turned around to remind Greyhem that she wanted to be alone, but what was in front of her she did not expect to find, a Darkelf! She looked for her spear, but it was not there. She was defenseless. She tried to call for help, but the Darkelf Grabbed her by the throat, all she could do was make a choking sound. But just then, when she thought all was lost, an arrow hit the Darkelf in the head. Greyhem drew his sword and Gorugu was rite behind him. The dark elf stood and, seeing as Darkelves don't die easily, charged and attacked Greyhem and Gorugu. Of course this was a BIG mistake, the last one this Darkelf would make. Greyhem didn't Waite for the Darkelf to come, he went to it. the two clashed in battle...

As he charged forward, Greyhem had only one thing in his mind; save Ulara, kill the Darkelf. He went into the forms his teacher taught him, Defense of the fortress met destroyer of armies of which met whirl wind of death which met shield of the living. The two met, swords sending sparks into the air, he then went into charge of death and his sword met, instead of another sword, flesh. The Darkelf fell to its death on the ground and then its body turned into shadow. Never before had he met a foe like that, although he beat it easily, he knew that the Darkelf that he just killed would only be a rookie. He gave the command to ride on and the rode, only slowing when the tower of Narfemsar finally came into sight for the first time. They finally were there!


	2. Chapter 2

33

Chapter 2 

_**The Great Tower of Narfemsar**_

Glarthen had never seen a bigger place in his entire life! All he had ever seen was his little village, Greyhorime. This place had the best stone work he had ever seen, and he was a stone mason! As the walked up to the gates' he marveled at the intricate patterns in the stone work. The stone, made from the best quarry in mountains of the grey in the south, was made into a great pattern of interweaving swirls as it rose fifty feet into the air. The gates were made of gold, silver and the best, strongest steel he had ever seen. As the walked passed the guards, they stopped and stated their names and business in The City of The Rising Sun, he then looked up and saw that on top of the gate there was a sun

that _did_ seem to be rising. Gorugu said in a nice voice "we have been summoned by the Lady Of The Tower, Narfemsar." The guard's eyes widened as Gorugu said it and he personally raised the gates himself, then escorted the eight to the tower. As they walked through the city they passed more peddlers and merchants than Glarthen could count. The people that were there were warring different thing that meant where they were from, but his gaze was almost immediately drawn to the giant tower in the center of the city. Protected by a wall that rose one-hundred feet into the air at least, the top was in the clouds. The tower and wall were much like the outer wall the passed. The gate, this time, was made of pure gold and silver with at least eighty feet of wall on top of it. "this is the best stone work I have ever seen." Glarthen said in his amazement. He gave an embarrassed look as Greyhem looked at him mockingly. "well it is," Glarthen mumbled. As they passed through the gates, they saw a beautiful woman in a silk green dress that was embroidered in white. "The Lady of The Tower, Lady Narfemsar," the guard introduced. She was surrounded by men and women warring different things but all had a staff. The women wore silk dresses divided for riding, the men wore wool shirts and pants. The men had staffs that were made of pure white crystal, the women had staffs of strong thick wood carved with patterns and roses. But Narfemsar had the best staff of them all. A staff that was made of marble and crystal, a very rare thing to even see!

"come into my home, Gorlthon, Gorugu, Glarsnal, Glarthen, Ulara, and Greyhem. I know you are wary from

your travels, we have rooms for you all. In the morning I am holding a meeting for those who have come to my summon. I wish you a good night's sleep and hope that you will be well rested tomorrow. We will have a feast for you, tonight. Eat well and you will be summoned when I need you." And with that she and the people around her went into the tower. A servant girl came and told Ulara to follow her and she will show her to her room. Greyhem was reluctant to see Ulara go, but did not show it. He had come to like her soothing presence. A servant boy came and took him to his room. After he got dressed he went down to were the feast was going to be. There were many people there, although he could still easily pick out Ulara, Wearing a blue dress with light red at the end of the long sleeves. He was wearing a black shirt with grey long pants and a cloak that was made of grey and had a gold embroidered edge. He went to Ulara and herd music. _Apparently _he thought angrily_ Narfemsar _wants_ me to dance with her!_ It was his favorite dancing song, The cat eats the mice, with different words.

Ulara was tapping her foot as she saw Greyhem come into the room. She got up considering weather or not she would dance with him if he asked her,_ this is his favorite dancing song_ she thought_ I hate you Narfemsar, trying to make us get together to fulfill your stupid prophecy. Although I don't think it would be to bad being queen to two nations _

_and having a nice king to fill in my absences._ She looked up as Greyhem walked up next to her and said "how's the party going for you?"

She replied in as calm of a voice as she could manage, which for once wasn't that calm, "Fine, what do you think of it?" She gulped and hoped he wouldn't ask her to dance. She hated dancing, although she was very good at it.

He asked for what she dreaded, "Ulara... uh... would you like to dance with me? Not that I want to force you or... uh... anything." It was his turn to gulp now, she herd it. She thought for a moment and finally decided on saying "yes, I would like to dance with you... uh... don't laugh at me though." She went with him to the dance floor and she danced with the worst dancer she had ever danced with, though she didn't care, she was completely absent of though as she danced. When the song ended Glarthen said to her something very stupid on his part, he said "How did you like dancing with your _boy friend_" after he said that he grinned like a idiot and she punched him as hard as she could.

He got up and said "I was only kidding! Ouch. That hurt more than I thought it would." He left rubbing his chin were she had punched him. She walked away and decided not to do anything but fight alongside Greyhem in battle, also she resolved that Glarthen was a complete idiot.

Gorlthon left thinking to himself _that rely hurt. I didn't think that a girl could hit that hard, even a gronsot. I think that I was actually rite she likes him. oh well. I wonder what Narfemsar actually wants with us. I know she didn't make us come all this way for a feast... although, the dancers are good looking. I haven't seen Gorlthon, I wonder were he is? _As if an answer to his question, the big double doors opened and in came Narfemsar and Gorlthon. _Oh boy. Here it comes, his lengthy announcements that are pointless._ It was Narfemsar who spoke first. She said "all have come who will. Come, fadane, Borathor. We will hold the meeting now."

Borathor walked in and, being taller than every one else, parted the crowed with ease. _I wonder what she wants with me and the other people and spider... oh well, my job is to sit and listen and wait for Narfemsar to ask my opinion on whatever she wants. _Or so he thought. As he walked into the large conference room, he was not at the front of the table, he was used to being the head of the conference. An elf sat next to were Narfemsar sat. He looked at the Giant spider hanging from the ceiling in a web made of spider silk. The young lord took the seat that Narfemsar offered him. he looked around and found that he was not the only one that had a blank look on their face. He looked at a woman sitting across from him, she had on _armor_. _What kind of woman wares armor? _He thought_ She must be insane, women can't fight. _He looked up at Narfemsar and she had a plain expressionless look on her face. She said "I have called you here to witness a foretelling one of my students had. She said during her foretelling 'In the darkness one who is king will be re-crowned and The Evil One will fall, by the hands of he and his followers Ulara, Gloren, Borathor, Fadane, Gorugu, Gorlthon, Glarthen, Glarsnal and Narfemsar. They will create the down fall for The Evil One. And on the lands of evil, new life shall be borne from death. Many thousands of men and women will die to destroy The Evil One and create this new land, but all will be well.' Those were her exact words." silence ran through the room for a moment then Narfemsar continued, "Any of you who do not wish to go into the great battle, that is what I call it, will not be seen as shameful people, but the consequences may be devastating to the world."

Gorlthon nearly fell off of his chair as Narfemsar recited their names in the prophecy. _Oh my god, I wanted to be in history but not like this! _He thought with mixed emotions, _how am I going to make this decision? _He sighed and said "I'll go, but who is this 'king to be re-crowned?'"

Narfemsar replied quiet calmly "He is sitting next to you, Greyhem." She turned to him, "You will lead us to victory... my lord." She looked at him and said "I have in my possession the sword and of the king of the Malkerie. It is your choice alone weather or not you chose now or later to be crowned, but you will be made king." _Yikes! He is truly the king._

Greyhem stood and looked around the room. He took a few seconds before deciding and saying "Yes I will lead the armies of all lands into battle as a king. No I will not be king of all, just part a nice big alliance between countries and we will drive the goblins and Darkelves out of the lands of humans, dwarves, elves and ogres. We will free the spiders, and the rebel goblins and Darkelves will join us."

"Aye and I will lead the dwarf armies on their scorpions." Gloren said very quickly. "We will fight alongside any you see fit to fight... My lord." The dwarf was very formal and sincere for their kind.

Ulara was next to stand "I will lead my armies with him and all others. I shall hold this to my fighter's oath of pain and death."

Glarthen and Glarsnal stood up at the same time and said, "You need some one to keep you out of trouble, don't you?" They said in unison.

Gorugu then stoodstoop and said "You have the alliance of the ogres."

Fadane then dropped and stood at full height of seven feet and said "The spiders will fight for you!"

The elf finally introduced himself as owyn and said "I will fight for the death of Al'drakene!

Borathor then stood and took in a breath and said "I will fight and so will my men. We carry the fate of all with us let the alliances never be broken."

Narfel then stood up and said "Even though I am not part of the prophecy, I will go and my people will fight with you. The rebel Darkelves will fight!"

Greyhem looked at him and said "what are you, the king of rebel Darkelves or something?"

Narfel said "precisely. And we will fight for our freedom."

"Then it is settled." Narfemsar said, "In the morning we will set out on the journey to Greyhorime, for it is under attack. I will muster as many men as I can by tomorrow, then we ride for Greyhorime."

At that time Gloren stood and said, "I will head for the mountains and form my army that will march to Greyhorime, my second home."

Fadane then said something similar, he said, "I will get my spiders and we march. It may take a day or so, but we will be there!"

I will go to Greyhorime," Greyhem said, "Who goes with me?"

Ulara, Glarthen, Glarsnal, Borathor and Gorlthon stood and said one at a time "I will go with you."

"Take the Griffons of the Gronsot and we can be there in at least three or four hours," Ulara said. They all agreed to take the dragons to Greyhorime, and so the alliance began. The alliance of the eight kingdoms.

"wait," Narfemsar said "you cannot go with no type of force what so ever!"

"We have griffons, don't we? And we have a sorcerer, don't we?" Narfemsar nodded, "so what's the problem?"

"You cannot hold them off with just griffons a sorcerer and a few warriors!" Narfemsar yelled angrily "This is a force that has not been seen since the thousand years war!" At that Greyhem's eyes widened. _Wow _he thought to himself_ I didn't know that Al'drakene was that strong._ "Further more, I cannot allow a king to go into battle unaided! They have over twenty thousand!" Narfemsar continued.

"What do propose we do?" Greyhem said questioningly.

"Take the griffons to the dwarf city, the Gronsot city, and the spider city. Gather a great force! Then go into battle!" Narfemsar agued.

"I cannot and will not stand on the side lines on this fight. My home is at stake!" Greyhem said raising his voice.

Narfemsar sighed and said "Ok but the guards of the city of the rising sun will go with you, at least half that are not on duty, a bare three-hundred, if there is that many griffons. If not take as many as you can."

"Fare enough" Greyhem said simply.


	3. chapter 3

16

_Chapter 3_

_The first battle for earth_

The next day Fadane left the tower and went to his homeland, lafitene. He traveled at a speed that would put a griffon to shame. _This is the fastest I have ever gone and I set the speed recorded already! _He thought happily. He loved to go fast and he got to lafitene in five hours. The quickest time ever to travel that far was ten hours. He got to the castle capital made of the strongest silk that no sword or catapult had ever damaged severely. He walked to the gate and the gatekeeper welcomed him graciously as did the king, his father. "I have come to gather an army to help destroy The Evil One." He said to his father... Greyhem left at the same time Fadane did, though he did not leave at the same speed as him. Fadane shot like a lightning bolt and left. "I hope the griffons don't go that fast," Greyhem said

"Oh they can if they want to... but they don't do that when humans are on them." Ulara said with a grin on her face.

"Two people will have to ride on one of the griffons to make room for the three-hundred." Narfemsar was saying and before Greyhem could protest, Ulara was riding with him.

He heard Ulara saying, "I wonder if I am the prophesized one that my father talked about so much."

"What prophesized one? What are you talking about?" Greyhem asked.

"The prophesized one that gives up being emotionless..."

She was cut off as they saw their first look at the village, or what was left of Greyhorime. Columns of smoke puffed up in many places and there were still fires brining in some places. They saw that there was a long line of people nearly all the way inside the fortes of Greyhorime. They landed in the fortress and found that there were only five hundred survivors from the village. The army that had destroyed the village was regrouping just outside shooting range. "They will be here by nightfall." The king of Greyhorime was saying to Greyhem. "I have never seen such a force as this, we will not last the night most likely."

Greyhem replied quickly, "Hope has come at last, an army of spiders, dwarves and humans come to help. Also we have a sorcerer with us, Gorlthon, a Gronsot queen, a ton of Griffons, three hundred Guards from the Tower of Narfemsar, an elf, a rebel Darkelf king, and a few well trained warriors."

"That will not be enough still! We will need many thousand more to win this fight. This foe is over..."

"Twenty thousand," Greyhem interrupted, "I know that is the largest army in one hundred years. But do you remember my grandfather? How he led only three hundred men against an army this big and came so close to winning that it was said that it was a victory? Do you remember that it was the goblins that had the fortress? No? I didn't think you remembered the story's my father told me about my grandfather."

"We don't have those kinds of warriors!" The king replied angrily "we have farmers, shepherds and ferry men!"

"But so did my grandfather! The army he led was not all well trained solders! It was mostly farmers and shepherds! Plus we have help coming!"

"Aye, I guess we have no choice but to fight anyway."

"WATCH OUT!" a man cried as a piece of tower flew of into the fortress.

"So the fight begins." The king said

The outer wall was twenty feet tall and seven feet thick, surrounding an inner wall thirty feet high and ten feet thick; this surrounded another wall that surrounded the keep. This wall was forty feet high and fifteen feet thick. The keep itself was sixty feet tall and was if it ever happened the last defense of the castle. The Goblin army ran forward and the humans shot arrows at them, severing their heads and arms. The goblins shot crossbows and arrows rite back at them. The goblins suddenly spread out and they reveled a bastilla on wheels! The goblins also had ladders. The griffons dived and picked up goblins with their talons.

Just then The goblins stopped the attack. They parted to revel a giant battering ram and large latter. Fifty goblins held the battering ram, they called in a cheer "Crush them, bash them, crush them, bash them!" they continued the cheer for a while, but soon the battering ram that the goblins held was at the gate. Hundreds of goblins kept dieing, continuously. They seemed invulnerable. As Greyhem noticed the ram not being a target, he did something about it.

"Turn that way!" he called and pointed, "Wrong way! Shoot that way!" He himself took out his bow and helped shoot. The Goblin army seemed to never even be afraid. The goblins took their strongest catapult and shot it at the main wall, the wall didn't stand a chance. The catapult broke a hole in it, many men died, more wounded. Greyhem saw Narfel fly into the air with the rest of the humans, but he suddenly had the black wings of a Darkelf. He flew over the broken wall. The goblin army ran forward into the fortress.

Gloren directed his Scorpion to were the loud BOOM sound came from. "Faster you dogs!" he yelled at his fellow dwarves.

Greyhem ran down the stairs to the place were the wall had broken. He got to the wall and saw a massacre! Goblins killing relentlessly, humans fighting for their lives. Greyhem charged forward and his sword flew like a hurricane, actually that was what he called the combo he used. He cut the goblins one by one, but there were too many. They over whelmed him, he fell back to the keep and waited for the goblins to break threw.

"Never thought I would die this way," He herd Glarthen say.

"I will _not _die here!" Greyhem herd Gorlthon say.

Just then Greyhem had an idea. "Make as loud of a sound as you can! Every body! The goblins might think that we have more men! They may slow down the attack and we may have a chance!" Just then they herd a horn blast. "That sounded like... The dwarves have come at last!"

Gloren took his first look at the situation and said "HALT!" The dwarves did just that. The goblins looked at the scorpions and put out their spears. "WE WILL FIGHT TILL THE LAST!" The dwarves cheered "TILL DEATH!" Gloren continued, "GLEMHAR, YOU WILL TAKE YOUR TEEM TO THE WALL. I WILL TAKE MY TEEM THROUGH THE GOBLIN ARMY! WE RIDE TO THE GLORY OF OUR ANSESTORS!" The dwarves cheered to "TO WAR!" They charged at the enemy army. _What a bad idea this is. _Gloren thought. The goblins took a great blow as the scorpions charged forward and stabbed them with sharpened feet that had no feeling. He saw but a bare fifty griffons were left in the air screaming and diving. As Gloren charged forward, he saw his warriors fall and die. By the time he got to the keep, he was the only dwarf left on his scorpion or otherwise. He fought the horde of goblins off for as long as he could. He herd cheering inside the keep and he climbed to the window twenty feet high. He looked in and saw a bare hundred left, there was a good twelve thousand goblins still besieging the castle. He climbed in and landed in the back. The humans looked at him and Glarsnal asked, "were are the dwarves?"

To which Gloren replied, "they have gone down into the west to meet our ancestors." He new they all new what that meant. He then said, "Let us not just sit here, let's fight! There's only twelve thousand left. We can at least meet them head on for the glory of it."

He waited for an answer, "I will go" Greyhem said.

"As will I!" Glarthen said.

"Do you think I would let you guys have all the fun?" Gorlthon said.

"Aye, let's kill them!" Glarsnal.

So they got on horses and opened the gates. "Ride for glory!" Glarsnal herd Greyhem say. The few people left rode forth. Glarsnal saw as they rode, a black cloud. It was coming on dawn. They had been fighting all night, since in the after noon yesterday. As the black cloud got closer, he saw Narfel leading rebel Darkelves into battle. He turned his attention to the goblin army and fought his way into the heart of the enemy. He herd a horn and remembered that Ulara had left to get an army for help. He herd a second horn and looked out at the mountain next to the fortress, Borathor was there he yelled "to the fortress!" and a loud cheer behind Borathor and he and his army charged down and then Ulara's army came into view at the same time as Fadane. The armies all charged at the goblins and the goblins had no rout of escape. Glarsnal continued charging and he realized that he was alone in the midst of the goblin horde. He took his sword and slashed at the hooks that tried to pull him off his horse. He managed to get into the united army and fought with them. He slashed and punched his way with the army and finally defeated the goblin horde.

Early before the battle ended, Gorugu waited at the front of the army, for he was not very good at shooting. He saw the wall break and Narfel fly, He charged forward and fought with all his might, cutting goblin heads off with his sword. As the others

Ran inside, He stayed

To fight. He never

Fell back to the keep

He destroyed a

Considerable amount

Of goblins. He finally herd horns in the distance, not Goblin, but dwarven and human, one he didn't recognize. "FOR GLORY!" He yelled. He then saw and horde dwarves, on their scorpions, they charged, Gloren in front of them all. Charging, dieing. He continued fighting and killing himself. A large Darkelf stood in front of him, drawing its sword. He went into his ogreish skill sword fighting. Die met kill, yikes met death, simple names for simple minds, but complex fighting. Death met flesh and the Darkelf fell. He was immediately surrounded by goblins.

After the battle was won Gorugu, Glarsnal, Glarthen, Greyhem, Ulara, Fadane, Gorlthon, Borathor and Gloren received a massage that a man with an arrow in his arm and another one in his back gave them, "The path... of the Grey" He said between gasps of breath "... goblins... infiltrated people destroyed and......." He then died from his wounds.

"What are we waiting for?! Lets get em'!" Gloren was apparently ready for more battle.

"It will be a blood bath for the Goblins!" Greyhem said.

"Oh Yea! Lets get em'!" Gorugu said loudly. One by one every one said yes and the journey began to retake the hole of the earth.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4 _

_The paths of the grey_

The journey there was kind of long seeing as they had ten thousand people to move, although the watch wasn't as bad to set up when they camped at night. The people and horses were getting tired. By the time they reached the entrance of the cave they were tired so they took an extra day to get ready. Greyhem sent spies to scope out the place. His reports were devastating news. Most of the commoners had changed sides and fought for the goblins plus there were twelve Darkelves that he saw which meant there were more! "We must fight them none the less," Greyhem kept saying but in his heart he began to understand, not all of his friends will make it, and he might not ether.

The next day the army marched up to the gate. Greyhem yelled to the army inside, "Let the lord of this treacherous place come and face me!" there was no answer, "Coward! Come and face me!" Greyhem continued. Just as he finished, the gate opened, and what it revealed was a grim and terrifying sight. Endless waves of Goblins marching forward. The united army began to take a defensive stance. Greyhem ran back on his horse and got of. He than went into his speech he had prepared incase this happened. "When all things end there will be only evil!" He began, "But today is not the day for evil to triumph. Today is the day good will triumph!" A loud cheer came, "Let us fight to the end and fear no darkness! For freedom." He then ran to the Goblin army. Glarsnal and Glarthen were the first to follow, but seconds later all ran forward. _This is a grim seen. _Greyhem thought. He was soon cutting and slicing heads and arms off of Goblins. He soon saw three dark elves and new he couldn't win. Most would have given up when they saw three Darkelves, but Greyhem new he would save many people if he even killed one or wounded one. He went into his best fighting style "cut them down" met "whirlwind of death" which met "dragon flies" And then he realized that all three were down and one quarter of the Goblins were dieing. _The goblins must have been bound to the dark elves_ Greyhem thought. He then saw nine Darkelves and charged at them. _How stupid am I?_ He thought for he new there was almost no way to beet nine Darkelves at once... or so he thought. He very soon found only two Darkelves down and he only had on cut on the ribs, and one cut on his leg! There were only five hundred goblins left! They had victory in their grasp and all because of Greyhem. Hundreds of arrows soon found their targets in the Darkelves heads, both fell and what was left of the goblins died except one. He ran to tell his master Al'drakene about Greyhem's talent at sword fighting.

As they went deeper into the cave, they came across more Goblins, thousands more and no Darkelves. "This time we must fight for real to gain victory, there are no Darkelves here." Greyhem said, "Our only hope is to stand together!" As the humans cheered the Goblins put out their long spears. "For Glory and death!" With that the horse men charged while the rest of the men, Spiders, Dwarves and Gronsot walked on foot. As the horse men charged Goblins let their arrows fly. Horsemen fell, Foot solders fell, but they still advanced. The Goblins suddenly had a look of fear upon their faces. The horsemen clashed into the Goblins and hundreds of Goblins per second were falling... but horsemen were falling too. As Greyhem charged into battle, The Goblins charged on their slarks. Slarks were wolves with the head and neck of a snake. Greyhem had only herd of slarks in stories his father told him about his Grandfather Greysham. With tongs that wrapped around your head they were one of the Goblins main tools of combat. But they could be tamed to obey humans too. Slarks were worse than in the stories. The slarks used their tong as a whip and cut people in half! Greyhem cut Goblins and slarks, killing at will. The battle raged for hours. Greyhem called the nine other leaders, Gorugu, Ulara, Glarsnal, Glarthen, Borathor, Narfel, Fadane, Gloren, Gorlthon, to him while the rest fought the oncoming horde.

"What are we going to do?" Greyhem asked his friends. "The goblins are too many, we cannot win... I was wrong."

"WHACH OUT!" One of the solders of Gronsot yelled; the Goblins had shot a catapult! The Goblins were stupider than they had thought.

As Gorlthon fought he decided that he would use magic if it got to rough. He took his staff and sword and he cut through any thing that stood in his way to Greyhem. Suddenly a catapult hit the ground near him knocking his horse to the ground, the horse didn't get up. _Well now,_ he thought as he got up, _that was nice._ He charged at the goblin now surrounding Greyhem and Ulara.

"To me!" Greyhem yelled to the solders "To me all solders! Form ranks, Reform the lines and Drive them back!" He seemed to be frantic, trying to defeat the goblins on their own ground. Suddenly he saw a Slark facing him. With its tong he found it a formidable opponent, but not powerful enough, He hurled two fire balls at it and it fell easily enough. "Charge!" He yelled and the few that had stayed with him charged towards Greyhem. Hacking, cutting and killing the goblins they fought their way through to Greyhem.

"Finally you made it Gorlthon," Greyhem stated as though it was a joke, "We have driven them back, they are retreating." Sure enough there were men cheering in success, but he knew the goblins would be back, with more Darkelves and Slarks. "The Goblins will be back soon." Greyhem said, "Form a perimeter to keep them at bay!" He shouted at the solders. He walked away shouting orders. _He has changed, Gorlthon thought._

Back at camp was utter chaos. There were fires and bodies strewn all over the ground. But Ulara did not care; she was already accustom to dead bodies.

"My lady," a young warrior from Greyhorime said, "We have fought the Goblin scum back to their old fortress, Bartem."

"Good, very good," Ulara said, "I have to talk to Greyhem and the others about another march, excuse me." She then walked past the solder and spotted the others.

"Ulara good to see you." Gloren said

"Like wise," Ulara said, she then turned to Greyhem and began on her request for another march. "I request that we push forward another march. We could catch the remaining Goblins in their fortress-

"No we cannot afford another march." Greyhem said, "The solders need rest and time to regain their strength. I agree with you though, this soon after a battle Goblins would not expect it." He then turned to Gorugu, "can we spare any forces at all?"

Gorugu was silent for a few seconds, then "I believe that there are a few that could fight, although if the Goblins have nearly as many as they did today I do not think they would win."

"I have an idea" said Gorlthon, "My destructive blast might be able to take the Goblins out, although I would be useless for many days after."

"That sounds good, but are you sure it would work?" Greyhem asked.

"I am not exactly sure, but there is an extreme chance I would be able to."

"Alright, Gorlthon goes."

_Nice situation you got your self in eh Gorlthon._ Gorlthon thought angrily_ should have kept your mouth shut._ Greyhem and the others were leaving, he was alone. He heaved a great sigh and said to himself "well, this will be fun" He turned and started walking towards the Goblin fortress. As he came into sight of the Goblin fortress he charged his power.

As the goblin general looked out the window he saw a bright light, as it got closer he saw it was a human. "Look lively fools!" He yelled at his Goblins to shoot him down. But as they shot the human, the arrows bounced off of him. "What? That should have killed him!!" The goblin general looked in horror as the human spun his staff above his head and stabbed it into the ground. There was a sound like a cave-in then suddenly the ear-splitting noise stopped, silence, a dead air, filled the space. Then a fire ring came out of the human's staff and turned into a dome around him. The dome then shot... and the general saw no more.

Gorlthon leaned on his staff and marveled at what he had done. A whole fortress gone! He was very weak; He sent the signal (One blast of loud sound) and then fell....

When he awoke he saw his friends standing over him. "Finally, he's awake!" His vision was still blurry so he identified the person by sound.

"Ulara?" he asked placidly with a voice that did not sound like his.

"Yes that is my name and now you need to rest."

"Is everyone OK?" Gorlthon asked.

"Everyone is fine," a new voice, Gorugu, "and now you need to rest. You collapsed; you've been out for three days." Suddenly his vision flashed and he could see. They were out of the cave, and it was daylight. He sat up, or tried, because Gorugu put a huge hand on his shoulder. He fell back unable to resist. "Do you want to kill yourself from exhaustion?"

"I feel fine!" Gorlthon yelled angrily, although it sounded like a whisper. In truth he did not feel fine but he didn't want them to know that. He didn't want them to think him a weakling. "How much longer till we reach Narfemsar?" He asked.

"We will be there in a few days, in the mean time you should rest." he looked at Ulara and glared, he did not like to be told what to do. Just then Greyhem, Glarsnal and Glarthen entered.

"How are you feeling Gorlthon?" Glarsnal asked.

"I am FINE! Why do people keep asking me that?" Just then a new person entered, a solder.

"Sir, Narfemsar's tower is under siege!" He cried hysterically, "we have been asked to come with great speed! Their situation is that the Goblins have put siege weapons, such as catapults and trebuchets, and the Goblin army is estimated at _fifty thousand_! The gates have been overrun and the sorcerers and sorceresses are trapped in the tower." After seeing the confused looks on the leader's faces he added, "A messenger came with a letter from Narfemsar."

_Oh man,_ Gorlthon thought sadly_ I can't even walk... wait, what if- yes!_ "I have an idea, hand me my staff." Ulara followed the request. "Thanks, now watch." He started chanting, it was the first spell he learned, the healing spell. He finished chanting and he had full energy. "Let's go kill some Goblin!"


End file.
